depends on when in the primary. there has been a lot of discussion lately about dryhopping while still on the yeast that the yeast binds with the hop oils or something like that. but then there are people like Matt Brynildson that promote starting dryhopping when the gravity is within 1P of completion, so the offgassing CO2 will drive away the oxygen present in the hops (mainly whole leaf I would assume) and I would assume leaving on the primary yeast until you are ready to keg.

I am experimenting now with big dryhop charges in the primary without removing the yeast rather than keg hopping to see where that takes me. Might still do the latter, but I'm experimenting....

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Paul, my last imperial red ale, I dryhopped with 4 oz. of various hops (simcoe, amarillo, centennial and something else that i have forgotten) in the primary on the yeast. The hop aroma was awesome. I was very pleased with the results. I have done lesser charges in the past with good results as well. This was a 5 gallon batch.

Don't bother with a transfer to a Secondary container unless you are going to add another fermentable. I agree with the sentiment above, dry hopping at the later stage of fermentation in the Primary is the preferred way to go. Keep the Primary cool and there won't be any problem with autolysis. Bottle or keg directly from the Primary after the beer has clarified to a large degree.

Paul, my last imperial red ale, I dryhopped with 4 oz. of various hops (simcoe, amarillo, centennial and something else that i have forgotten) in the primary on the yeast. The hop aroma was awesome. I was very pleased with the results. I have done lesser charges in the past with good results as well. This was a 5 gallon batch.

yeah - so far, that has been my experience as well - but I still am not getting that fresh, in your face, huffing on the opened hop bag aroma that I do from keg hopping, but I've only tried this a few times thusfar. More research is needed...

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The happiest people don’t necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the best of everything they have.

I've typically added my dry hops at anywhere from 10-14 days from the start of fermentation in the primary. After reading "For the Love of Hops", I am tempted to try adding my dry hops sooner. Stan reports that yeast create some of the aroma compounds that are desirable in dry hopping. I may have to start toying around with doing separate "early" and "late" dry hop additions to see if it brings any added benefit.

Wow, interesting to hear about you guys trying dryhopping before fermentation is done. I had thought that the "conventional" wisdom was that yeasties tie up and drag hoppy goodness down into the cake...to use the technical terms .

Wow, interesting to hear about you guys trying dryhopping before fermentation is done. I had thought that the "conventional" wisdom was that yeasties tie up and drag hoppy goodness down into the cake...to use the technical terms .

Let us know how your trials go.

I always thought it was best to wait until after fermentation was done so you did not lose all of the hop aroma out the airlock with the CO2.......

Wow, interesting to hear about you guys trying dryhopping before fermentation is done. I had thought that the "conventional" wisdom was that yeasties tie up and drag hoppy goodness down into the cake...to use the technical terms .

Let us know how your trials go.

If you read the Hops book, you'll know that there really is no 'conventional wisdom' when it comes to dry hopping. Everyone does it a bit differently and you'll have to work out what works for your system.

Wow, interesting to hear about you guys trying dryhopping before fermentation is done. I had thought that the "conventional" wisdom was that yeasties tie up and drag hoppy goodness down into the cake...to use the technical terms .

Let us know how your trials go.

I always thought it was best to wait until after fermentation was done so you did not lose all of the hop aroma out the airlock with the CO2.......

I've heard both these things as well, and that's why I've added my dry hops on the late side in the past. I'm definitely going to try moving to a 2-stage dry-hopping regimen when practical after reading Stan's book, in hopes of catching the best of both worlds.